So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

— Mitch Albom (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

Finding your True Passion in Life

onlinecounsellingcollege:

1.    What puts a smile on your face? Is there a particular event, a particular topic that makes your whole face just lighten up? Whatever it is that makes you smile, and makes you happy whenever you encounter it, this is a sign of something you are passionate about.

2.    What do you find easy? Usually, what we find easy for us to do, will be related to what we are passionate about. It’s very hard to hate something that is very easy for us!

3.    What sparks your creativity? Think about something in your life where you seem to always expand its horizon, always coming up with new, fun, and exciting ideas relating to that subject. Whatever makes you creative is probably something that you are very passionate about.

4.    What would you do for free? Doing what you have a passion for brings out your best, and this leads to greatness. Greatness breezes to success. So think about something that you would just love to do, even if you were not getting paid. Think about something that you look forward to doing, something that you wish you could do all the time.

5.    What do you like to talk about? The topics of conversation we have can definitely tell what we are interested in, and this is a good way to find out what we really enjoy in life.

6.    What makes you unafraid of failure? When we do what we are passionate about, we have total confidence in our abilities. This makes us not worry about failing, because in our mind, how can we fail when we do what we love?

7.    What would you regret not having tried? If you were at the end of your life, what would you regret not having pursued? What would you have liked to do, that you didn’t get a chance to? Think about what that might be. Whatever it is that you may experience regret now or later on for not having tried, this is a good chance to be your true passion.

Source: http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/04/7-questions-to-finding-your-true-passion/ (Abridged)

gpoy

(Source: flirtingwith-you)

chronicillnesscat:

[Image: 6-piece blue colored background with a Siamese cat.Text reads:  Mental illnesses interfere with academic performance - “You have to take personal responsibility”]

Having to deal with depression and anxiety is hard enough. I don’t need people telling me I need to “man up”, or that I need to try harder, or that I’m just trying to “cop out” of personal responsibility.

how to decode a person with an anxiety disorder

euclase:

things we are trying to do all the time:

1. be safe

things we can’t help but do all the time:

1. second-guess ourselves
2. behave impulsively and reactively
3. take everything personally
4. worry
5. worry
6. worry
7. have difficulty accepting compliments
8. have difficulty reciprocating friendly gestures
9. have difficulty finding the courage to respond
10. have difficulty not being suspicious of others’ intentions
11. make a huge deal out of the smallest thing

things you should keep in mind:

1. we’re scared of everything
2. pretty much all of the time
3. it’s an actual disorder
4. it manifests as impulsive behavior
5. you can’t fix us with words
6. telling us “worrying is silly” won’t make us stop worrying
7. it’ll only make us feel silly
8. and then we’ll worry even more
9. “oh god, am i worrying too much? what if they call me silly again?”
10. like that
11. also, we wear a lot of armor
12. cold, heavy, affection-proof armor with spikes
13. we constructed this armor as children
14. we’re fairly certain you will never be able to pry it apart
15. but there is a nice person under there, we promise

things you can do for a friend with an anxiety disorder:

1. stick around
2. ask them if they’re comfortable in a place or situation
3. be willing to change the place or situation if not
4. activities that help them take their mind off of things are good!
5. talk to them even when they might not talk back
6. (they’re probably too afraid to say the wrong thing)
7. try not to take their reactions (or lack thereof) personally
8. (the way they expresses themself is distorted and bent because of their constant fear)
9. (and they knows this)
10. give them time to respond to you
11. they will obsess over how they are being interpreted
12. they will anticipate being judged
13. it took me four hours just to type this much
14. even though i sound casual
15. that’s because i have an anxiety disorder

things you shouldn’t do:

1. tell us not to worry
2. tell us we’ll be fine
3. mistake praise for comfort
4. ask us if we are “getting help”
5. force us to be social
6. force us to do things that trigger us
7. “face your fears” doesn’t always work
8. because—remember—scared of everything
9. in fact, it would be more accurate to say we are scared of the fear itself

emergency action procedure for panic attacks:

1. be calm
2. be patient
3. don’t be condescending
4. remind us that we’re not “crazy”
5. sit with us
6. ask us to tighten and relax our muscles one by one
7. remind us that we are breathing
8. engage us in a discussion (if we can talk, then we can breathe)
9. if we are having trouble breathing, try getting us to exhale slowly
10. or breathe through our nose
11. or have us put our hands on our stomach to feel each breath
12. ask us what needs to change in our environment in order for us to feel safe
13. help us change it
14. usually, just knowing that we have someone on our side willing to fight our scary monsters with us is enough to calm us down

if you have an anxiety disorder:

1. it’s okay.
2. even if you worry that it’s not okay.
3. it’s still okay. it’s okay to be scared. it’s okay to be scared of being scared.
4. you are not crazy. you are not a freak.
5. i know there’s a person under all that armor.
6. and i know you feel isolated because of it.
7. i won’t make you take it off.
8. but know that you are not alone.

♥

expose-the-light:

Ingredients of life

Illustrations of Chemical compounds by Avkari Alon

Tough call, man. Tough call.

(Source: upon-the-heath)

chronicillnesscat:

[Image: 6-piece blue colored background with a Siamese cat.Text reads: “So, what do you do?” Please god anything but this question]

I know people are just trying to get to know you, which is why it’s so hard to dodge this extremely simple conversation starter. But being asked “Where do you work?” or “Where do you go to school?” when you can’t do either leaves you kind of stumbling for an answer, especially if your illness(es) are completely invisible. It’s so hard to explain and really kind of a mood killer, plus who wants to share their health information with a stranger, even a friendly one? Of course, that could just be the “oh my god they’re judging me” anxiety acting up every time I hear it…

sea-change:

ecritureacreature:

Anna Schuleit, Bloom (2003) Site-specific installation, Massachusetts Mental Health Centre, Boston MA.

Hits you just over the ribcage, doesn’t it?

more flowers.  but then, if you didn’t read the above, look again.

oh.

this… this.  i need time to process exactly what i think about this, but the feelings are coming hard and fast.  somehow, it ties into my whole thought catalogue regarding mental illness and health, and spaces, and time, and decay, and memory, and bodies vs absenting of/disconnect from, and what we’re given vs what we need when we are in a place where that decision isn’t one we’re allowed to make ourselves.

thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.  in the meantime, though… oh.

(Source: free-parking)

chronicillnesscat:

[Image: 6-piece blue colored background with a Siamese cat with blue eyes. Text reads: “Need coffee to function – Coffee causes anxiety attack”]

Which, of course, prevents me functioning.

My life.

better-drawn:

Nick Soucek provides us with another comic, dealing with his experiences of anxiety and depression.

“In spite of the hopeful message he so lovingly tried to convey in that video, this evening it became all too apparent, that the years of being rejected, bullied, emotionally battered and discarded like garbage by his own family, had taken their toll. EricJames Borges, age 19, took his own life this afternoon.”

(Source: youtube.com)

(Source: thebuffster)

chronicillnesscat:

[Image: 6-piece blue colored background with a Siamese cat with blue eyes. Text reads: “Top text: Pour hot, relaxing bath. Bottom text: Have panic attack.”]

My evening! I was feeling stressed and in pain so I thought a bath might help. LOOOOOOL NOPE. :D

lol, my life.